“Captain Hong, excellent marksmanship,” Song Yueying praised without hesitation.
Her words immediately dispersed much of the tense atmosphere.
Standing nearby, Captain Hong glanced at her, then swiftly jumped down from the wall and lunged toward Xiao Wu, who was trying to retrieve the gun.
“Damn it!” Seeing the gun slide far out of reach, Xiao Wu couldn’t help but curse loudly. “Fine, today I’ll fight you to the death!”
He straightened up and swung his fist fiercely at Captain Hong.
Captain Hong let out a cold snort and easily dodged the punch. With a quick turn, he kicked Xiao Wu to the ground.
He had failed to retrieve the gun, failed to land a hit, and instead took a kick himself. When his body slammed into the ground, he struck his injured hand again. The pain was so intense Xiao Wu nearly passed out.
In just a few moves, Captain Hong subdued him. He twisted Xiao Wu’s arms behind his back and snapped on handcuffs. “With skills like this, you still think you can fight me to the death? Overestimating yourself.”
After speaking, he glanced at Xiao Wu with disgust and walked to the courtyard gate to open it.
Several police officers rushed into the courtyard. At Captain Hong’s command, they dispersed to search the area.
Xu Daniu trembled in fear, desperately trying to make herself smaller and less noticeable. She knew very well that if she was caught, not only was she finished, her son and daughters-in-law would be ruined as well.
So she could not be caught. Absolutely not.
Taking advantage of the police not noticing her yet, Xu Daniu quietly edged toward the courtyard gate.
“Xu Daniu, where are you going?” a clear voice asked.
Xu Daniu froze as if struck by lightning. She forced herself to look up at Song Yueying, who was still sitting on the wall.
In that instant, a scheme formed in her mind.
Xu Daniu forced a gentle smile onto her face. “Girl, what are you even asking? I brought you and the public security comrades here and have already completed my task perfectly.”
“Now that there’s nothing else for me to do, I should head home. You know I still have a little granddaughter to take care of.”
“If I don’t go back soon, no one will look after her, and she’ll definitely cry nonstop.”
As if thinking of her pitiful little granddaughter, Xu Daniu’s words gradually turned into tears streaming down her face.
Playing the victim and acting pitiful was the only way she could think of to get out of this. After all, only that damn girl knew what she had done, the police did not.
As long as that girl didn’t betray her, the police wouldn’t arrest her.
Song Yueying watched Xu Daniu’s performance leisurely. Sitting up high really did give a wide view, otherwise she might not have noticed Xu Daniu trying to slip away quietly.
After watching enough, Song Yueying slowly uttered two words.
“Too late.”
Too late? What was too late? Xu Daniu thought it, and then asked it out loud.
Only when silver handcuffs were locked onto her wrists did Xu Daniu finally understand what “too late” meant. But she refused to accept it, she couldn’t accept it, and she absolutely could not be taken to the police station.
She glared furiously at the officer who had cuffed her. “What are you doing? What right do you have to put these things on me? Take them off, take them off right now!”
“I was the one who brought you here! I’m the reason you caught the human traffickers! Instead of thanking me, you treat me like a criminal? This is outrageous!”
“I… we didn’t,” the officer stammered in rebuttal. It was probably the first time he had encountered such a shameless, unreasonable old woman.
Both Song Yueying and Captain Hong were equally disgusted by Xu Daniu’s words.
Especially Song Yueying, those words were essentially echoing what she had just said herself.
If Captain Hong and the police officers had not arrived just as Xiao Wu was closing the courtyard gate, and if they had not overheard Xu Daniu and Xiao Wu’s private discussion, then hearing Xu Daniu now claim that she had led them to the traffickers, they would have believed her.
Not only would they have believed it, they might even have commended and rewarded Xu Daniu.
This was something Song Yueying could think of, and Captain Hong naturally could as well. In fact, he thought further ahead than she did.
If Xu Daniu escaped this time, then the next time they received a report of someone being abducted, she would be the first person they ruled out as a suspect.
After all, no one would believe that the person who led the police to arrest human traffickers was herself a trafficker. And even less would anyone imagine that traffickers would dare to commit crimes right under the noses of the police.
The consequences of that would be unimaginable.
“You did,” Xu Daniu said, raising both hands. She looked aggrieved and sorrowful. “You put these things on me without even distinguishing right from wrong, that’s proof enough.”
“Why we put these ‘things’ on you, Xu Daniu, don’t you have any idea in your own heart?” Song Yueying sneered.
Xu Daniu had no way to refute Song Yueying’s words. Guilt flickered across her face. The hatred in her eyes was almost tangible, and inwardly she cursed Song Yueying and her entire family over and over again.
Ignoring Xu Daniu’s murderous glare, Song Yueying had originally planned to jump straight down from the wall. But thinking of how difficult it had been for her to climb up in the first place, she decisively gave up on that idea.
Sigh, this body really was too weak.
The officers conducting the search returned and reported that they had found no one.
“No one found? Did you search carefully?” Captain Hong frowned and asked. They had personally overheard Xiao Wu and Xu Daniu outside the courtyard saying that a batch of “goods” would be moved tonight.
In the traffickers’ language, “goods” referred to the people they had deceived or abducted, mostly young women and children.
Once a person is taken away, the chances of getting them back are extremely slim.
Captain Hong paced back and forth anxiously.
The police officers also understood this and were equally worried. “We searched carefully, but there really is no one.”
If no one was found, it meant there was no evidence, and Xiao Wu and Xu Daniu could not be charged. Captain Hong was unwilling to accept this, he was certain Xiao Wu and Xu Daniu were human traffickers.
It was just unfortunate that there was no evidence.
Hearing the officers say they had found no one, Xiao Wu and Xu Daniu both showed expressions of relief.
Suddenly, Captain Hong remembered the person who had reported the case. He stopped pacing and looked around for Song Yueying, only to see that she was still sitting on top of the courtyard wall.
“Comrade Song, you can come down now,” Captain Hong said.
Song Yueying curled her lips and answered honestly, “I can’t get down.”
Captain Hong and the officers were stunned. They had personally seen her climb up onto the wall. Hearing that she couldn’t get down now was completely unexpected.
Already embarrassed, Song Yueying decided to abandon all dignity and said, “Captain Hong, could you send someone to get me a ladder?”
Captain Hong signaled to one of his subordinates. The man immediately turned and left, soon returning with a ladder on his shoulder.
Slowly, Song Yueying used the ladder to climb down from the wall.
“Comrade Song, my men have thoroughly searched this courtyard and found no one. In your opinion, is it possible the person is hidden elsewhere?” Captain Hong asked impatiently.
“It’s not impossible,” Song Yueying said, her gaze landing on Xiao Wu and Xu Daniu.
The two showed no major change in expression, though their eyes flickered slightly.
Song Yueying sneered and said to Captain Hong, “If one search didn’t find them, it doesn’t matter, search again. The person is definitely still in this courtyard.”